


See You

by orphan_account



Category: Persona 4
Genre: Angst, Bad Ending 1, M/M, Post Game, Protests, Tension, mild violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-03
Updated: 2017-06-03
Packaged: 2018-11-08 16:31:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11085513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Souji's back in Tokyo now. It's been months. But the fog never lifted, and Nanako never recovered. The only tie to his old life he has is his uncle's old partner.(prompt fill: we keep getting arrested at the same protests and at this point i think i’m only starting fights with policemen so i can sit next to you in holding)





	See You

**Author's Note:**

> (postgame + bad ending where namatame is thrown in, Souji and Adachi both  
> moved back to the city. social link at 7)
> 
> I switched this up this prompt a little bit bc 1 – adachi’s a cop and 2 – wouldn’t be caught dead protesting anything. 
> 
> Also: I wrote this quickly, and I’ve only ever been to protests in America, so my interpretation of a protest for this drabble will likely be distinctly American.

_Hachiko Square has flooded with another wave of protestors due to the recent law passed regarding transportation. Police have been dispatched to confine the growing crowd. One eyewitness reports that -_

Souji turned the TV off, biting his lip to hold back an enormous grin.

Two protests in the same month? It had to be his lucky day.

\----

In Tokyo, Souji wasn’t a cool transfer student, or a treasured friend, or trying to solve a supernatural murder mystery. He was just a city kid, about to graduate high school. Alone.

After throwing Namatame into the TV, the fog in Inaba kept getting worse. Souji knew he made a bad call, but there was nothing he could do about it now that he wasn’t there. He agonized at night, haunted by dreams of Nanako slipping away, or Namtame’s screams. Sometimes he’d stay up on a rainy evening and press his hand to the cold glass of the TV screen, and he’d _feel it start to give._

But he couldn’t do it without his friends. He wasn’t strong enough, and he had no clue where he’d end up.

Besides, it seemed they were all too busy to respond to his messages. Like the fog sucked all the life out of them. Only Yosuke responded semi-regularly, and even then, Souji could feel the hopelessness in every tiny electronic letter.

He hated his life in Tokyo. Or he did, until recently.

Walking home from his part time job a few weeks ago had sent him stumbling into a roiling protest – and straight into Tohru Adachi, his uncle’s bumbling old partner. Apparently, he’d been transferred back to the city shortly after Souji had left Inaba.

Souji knew he needed something, anything that could remind him of when he felt like a worthwhile person. 

And although Adachi wasn’t what quite he had in mind, he’d do.

 ----

Souji jogged out the door of his parent’s condo, patting down his pockets to make sure he hadn’t forgotten his wallet and phone. The weather was pleasant, a hint of summer, and sweat beaded up on his forehead as he broke into a run.

He couldn’t miss it, not when the last time had been so _interesting._

Souji knew that his reasoning for attending the protests were selfish and best, and immoral at worst, but he didn’t care. He needed to combat the numbness threatening to overtake him.

The bus he’d been trying to catch leisurely pulled up to the stoplight two blocks away from the stop, and he skidded to a halt with a groan.

Well, he’d have to find another way.

He flung his hand into the air, arm quivering, and flagged down a taxi. He shrugged his jacket off after slipping into the cab. 

“Where to?” The man asked. He was quite old, huddled so small in the driver’s seat that Souji may have felt apprehensive if he wasn’t so frantic.

“Hachiko square,” Souji muttered, rubbing the back of his neck and attempting to take a deep breath. He needed to calm the pulse thrumming through his legs, his stomach, his face. He was too hot. He never got excited anymore. 

“Oho, you’re heading to the protest?” The man chuckled, signaling and pulling into traffic. He was driving much faster than Souji expected. “That’s wonderful. The new law is truly unreasonable, we need more young people like you who care about what’s going on in the world!”

Souji nodded and looked out the window, ears coloring a bit but nothing else to indicate his shame to the driver.

He just needed to see a friend again.

\---- 

After a generous tip to the driver for his urgency, Souji thrust his hands in his pockets and beelined toward the noise. 

He kept his head down once he reached the wall of people, weaving through the sizable crowd. It wasn’t too rowdy, not yet, but people were arriving from every direction.

Souji felt nice in the anonymous bustle, warm angry bodies pressing together like sardines. Cries filled the air, signs and fists were thrust upward, and for a moment Souji forgot entirely why he was there. 

He snapped back at the ominous cries of police sirens, a crescendo as several cars descended upon the area from different streets. Souji heard car doors slam, followed by hurried footsteps

“All citizens are required to disperse at once,” A processed voice boomed out over the crowd. They must be using megaphones.

“No!” He heard a shout from somewhere to his right, and a sea of voices rose up. Souji squirmed forward, attempting to breach the edge of the group. Even the police’s voices were drowned out in the noise. 

He pushed forward through waves of strangers, finally reaching an opening. He gasped.

There were probably about fifteen policemen there, but because the protest wasn’t extraordinarily large or violent, they hadn’t brought any special equipment. They were closing in slowly around the group. The one in the front belted instructions from the megaphone while the others stood by, a few nervous hands clasping at their holsters. 

He craned above the smaller women next to him, straining his neck to survey the officers. _There._

Adachi looked different. He was actually styling his hair, for once, it was slicked back with gel. He probably thought it looked more professional, but Souji thought all it did was accentuate his large forehead.

He was a good fifteen feet away from him. Souji pushed a bit more so that he was at the very forefront of the crowd. Like a magnet, Adachi’s eyes surveying the crowd honed in on Souji. He frowned at him, and Souji could almost hear him saying “ _Oh man, not you again.”_

Time for action.

“We deserve justice!” Souji cried, and he began elbowing the others around him, hard. He grunted, gnashed his teeth, anything to make him look dangerous and out of control.

“Hey, watch it!”

“Do you want to get us arrested?”

“Someone stop him!”

Two of the policemen, including Adachi, moved toward him.

“Let us handle this, ma’am,” The other officer said, and he nodded at Adachi. “We’ve seen this kid before.”

“That we have,” Adachi murmured, one hand closing in around his forearm. “Just come quietly this time, okay?”

“Only if you talk to our representatives about this unjust law.”

Adachi’s eye twitched, his mouth tightened. “You have the right to remain silent,” he said.

Souji gave him the tiniest hint of a smile before he shot off like a rocket, not making it more than three feet before Adachi had pinned him to the ground.

“Shit, kid, what the hell is wrong with you?” He hissed in his ear, wrenching his arms behind his back. He felt the pinch of handcuffs as they clicked into place, and for some reason it made him shiver.

\----

Nobody else was in the holding cell except Souji.

The ride over had been quiet, save for Adachi shooting him several exasperated looks in the rear view mirror. Once they’d arrived, he’d shoved him in this cell and left. But Souji knew he had to come back eventually. 

Sure enough, he heard footsteps marred by a telltale lazy shuffle echoing down the hall toward him.

There he was. Adachi wore a street patrol uniform today, and in addition to his strange hair, it made him look older. Somehow more dangerous.

“Souji-kun. Twice in one month? I didn’t think I’d see you again, and here you are, getting yourself into trouble for no reason,” Adachi said, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Do you know how worried Dojima-san was when I called him the last time saying you’d been taken into custody overnight?”

“Probably more worried than my parents were,” Souji replied. The policeman quieted at that.

“Look, all I’m asking for is a straight answer. Why are you doing this?” His voice was almost gentle, a semblance of care. 

“Because I wanted to see you,” He responded simply.

Adachi stiffened. “Why would you want to do something stupid like that? You have no reason –“

“So I made one.”

Adachi scrutinized his face, but Souji knew the truth was written plainly on it. He wasn’t lying. Adachi made to adjust the tie that wasn’t there with an annoyed huff. Was he flustered?  
  
“Seeing you a few weeks ago, talking with you – it reminded me of being in Inaba. And I miss it. Don’t you?” Souji pressed, not realizing he had moved to the front of the cell. He grasped the bars, not even a foot away from Adachi’s face.

“I wouldn’t consider arresting you after you got needlessly belligerent at a protest _seeing you,”_ Adachi said, moving back slightly with an exasperated sigh. “But no, I don’t miss Inaba. That tiny town meant nothing to me. The city’s always been better. Nonstop crime leaves you with no time to think about crap, y’know?”

“The murder case kept you pretty busy,” Souji said, noting Adachi’s tiny sharp intake of air. “I know you hated me and my friends butting in to the case, but we all were working toward a common goal. And we were like a family then, you and me and Dojima-san and Na-” his breath caught, and he couldn’t continue the thought.

“True. That part was a little interesting. It’s a shame the killer wasn’t caught,” Adachi said, a sympathetic smile on his face. “Nanako’s funeral was beautiful. Sorry you weren’t there to see it. At least we know she died peacefully, unlike the other two.”

“How do you know?” Souji asked, with a quirked eyebrow. Adachi had no idea about the workings of the TV world. Nanako was too young to produce a Shadow, so she was killed by the fog’s toxin. But how could he know that? 

A hint to red flushed Adachi's shallow cheeks.

“She just seemed at peace, that’s all! Anyway, Dojima is coming down to bail you out this time, since your parents are out of town. He’ll be here tomorrow. Don’t pull a stunt like this again,” he said with a wave, turning toward the hallway to leave.

“Wait!” Souji cried. Adachi paused. “Do you... know something about the murders?”

Adachi turned back around. He smiled then, a grin, something sinister flickering behind his eyes. Souji’s stomach dropped at the sight.

“Even if I did, I wouldn’t tell you, kid.”

**Author's Note:**

> this wasn't suuuuper shippy but I think these bad endings create a really interesting dynamic that I wanted to capture haha
> 
> follow me [here](http://maeihas.tumblr.com)


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